Strawberry brown with a decent capper of beige-tan foam. This, from being poured straight downward into my Rodenbach Grand Cru tulip. Conjures up a nice look.

Ripe fruits and woodiness. A tannic vibe inspired by black cherry, strawberry, and grape with barrel wood and sweet and toasty maltiness. Lots of juiciness, paired with a drinking vinegar quality, makes for a lightly tart (but, not sour) nose.

Age proves to play a part. Malts are richer and sweeter and quite the departure from the apparent barrel wood and balsamic interplay. But, here, the malts push the fruits to darker tones. Elements of cherry and grape medley into prune and overripe strawberry. Balsamic vinegar notes push past tart into the land of mild sweet/sour. Vinous, in this vintage, with softer tannins, leather, oak, bubble gum, and pinot. The cherry/vanilla play is not as apparent as it would in a Duchesse, but moreso than in a Grand Cru or a 2010 Vintage. This has great character after the age, perhaps, more than the 2007 Vintage had to offer for time stability. Falls short of being as tasty and sour, but the malts are really smooth and complex here. Lightly spicy, too, with reassuring smoothness of body, which has good weight compared to many other Flanders Reds. I can't say enough about the malt constant.

Yep. Another outstanding brew from my favorite brewery on the planet. So happy to have another bottle of this in the waiting.

***

Enjoyed again on Thankgiving 2013

Dark red-brown with a good standing of beige head. Really nice look for a Flanders Red.

Overall: Similar to the 2010 and 2008 versions, these Vintage offerings from Rodenbach are excellent, and noticeable improvements over the Grand Cru. The $20 price tag is a bit steep, but worth it IMO. One of the best of the style.

From a 750 ml brown bottle, black foil around the neck, caged and corked. Pours out a hazed nutty garnet hue, with a tall spongy light beige head that slowly settles.

Sour cherries and wood appear first on the nose, while further inspection reveals some mild grainy malt, hints of caramel, along with some cidery acidity.

Does ephemeral goodness count as a flavour description? Ah, but that would be the easy way out. Sour cherries, grainy and biscuity malt, earthy and wood character, balsamic vinegar, dry pear peel, dry cider, a general musty character on the finish. Dry wafery chocolate notes appear in the aftertaste, lingering with some oak and acidity. Honestly the break down does no justice to how well this all works together, it's far greater than the sum of its parts.

The Flanders Red isn't the first style I grab for when I'm scoping out the beer shelves, I'll be the first to admit that. Even still I was incredibly impressed by this offering, it works beautifully on its own merits, and I'll be stocking up on a couple more bottle to pull out for the right time.

750ml bottle. After being assured that this was the only case available in the province, it appears, of course, that there is much more to behold, and that this is not exactly a retired product.

This beer pours a rather hazy dark reddish amber colour, with two fingers of tightly foamy, somewhat creamy off-white head, which leaves some broad splatters of hanging cloud lace around the glass as it evenly abates.

The bubbles are duly present, but not at all obtrusive, the body a genial medium weight, and more or less smooth, the lingering acidic notes having their say as they very well might be expected to. It finishes with a suggestion of off-dryness, but that's a veritable sham, as the wine vinegar sourness kicks it up another notch, and overpowers the paltry efforts of the lingering malt.

A nicely moderated sour ale, the wood essences contributing well to the cause, gently sublimating the tart fruitiness, justifying the booze, and providing an overall softness that any imbiber can't help but feel thankful for here. That said, this is a mite bit more drinkable than the 'standard' offering from this brewer - see above for details.